As readers of this blog are well aware, depression and anxiety “are a major cause of disease burden and disability with depression projected to become one of the three leading causes of burden of disease by 2030.” It is estimated that 90% of people who suffer from depression and anxiety are treated solely by their primary care physician, and the majority of these interventions are exclusively pharmacological. Many people also report being unsatisfied with the level of care they receive. While these facts point toward collaborative care being a logical and effective treatment model for depression and anxiety, there was not enough research that provided conclusive evidence to support recommending collaborative care for those with depression and anxiety problems until this year.

If psychiatrists want to be more effective and help a much larger number of people, they need to work in a model of integrated care where they can collaborate closely with primary care physicians, said psychiatrist Jürgen Unützer, M.D., M.P.H., at APA’s 2012 Institute on Psychiatric Services in New York last month.